I would say the most likely place to see him is in a hypothetical Midnight Sons movie, which might happen after Dr Strange, if Dr Strange succeeds at creating and selling a supernatural world in the MCU.

Failing that, its conceivable he could appear on SHIELD, if they stretch their budget ( don't expect Nick Cage or movie-grade SFX, natch ).

As many others have said, I think a Marvel Knights imprint would be an ideal way to introduce some of these street-level characters into the current MCU. I also agree with others that a TV series might be the best way to do it - in fact, I'd combine the two ideas and here's what I mean by saying that:

With the grittier nature of characters like Punisher, Daredevil, etc, an HBO series would be a great place for that. I think you could have a Marvel Knights show with each season based on one story arc for an individual character... say 12 episodes per season. I think the majority of fans just want to see the characters done well on the screen in some form or another, so why not give them something a little different than the blockbuster films we've seen so far? In my opinion, the ultimate goal of Marvel Studios shouldn't strictly be feature-film products (and we're already seeing that with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up by ABC). This would give them the opportunity to branch out and expand into entirely new audiences with more mature content.

I also think that by basically making each character a mini-series there are some interesting storytelling options. For instance, instead of the token origin story film we've seen for other Marvel characters recently, you can show pieces of that throughout the episodes via brief flashbacks. That way you understand each character's motivations without spending lots of time setting up the origin & instead jump straight to a story arc for the season.

Then as each season comes to a close, you find a way to set up the next featured character. So say Season 1 is based around Punisher - at the end of the finale you have Frank Castle arrested for his vigilante justice, but in the final moments you see him outside a courtroom having been acquitted. He mutters something like, "Thanks Murdock" and walks away, while the final visual of the season sets up a Daredevil arc for Season 2. Similarly, you could introduce a character like Elektra to set up Season 3.

Now, in regards to Ghost Rider - while I understand the problems of bringing the character to life on TV, I don't think it's impossible. Most of the issues would stem around production costs/effects budgeting... with that being said, we've seen the success of Game of Thrones which comes with high production costs & visual effects budgets. So I think that if Ghost Rider were to happen on TV, you could build to it through a show like Marvel Knights. If the series were to garner success in earlier seasons, it might sway the studios to ramp up the budget if it meant introducing characters that could then be parlayed into feature-film appearances (but not necessarily stand-alone pictures, but something like The Avengers).

I'd be interested to hear comments/thoughts about such a scenario - I know it's a long-winded post, so props if you made it this far!

As many others have said, I think a Marvel Knights imprint would be an ideal way to introduce some of these street-level characters into the current MCU. I also agree with others that a TV series might be the best way to do it - in fact, I'd combine the two ideas and here's what I mean by saying that:

With the grittier nature of characters like Punisher, Daredevil, etc, an HBO series would be a great place for that. I think you could have a Marvel Knights show with each season based on one story arc for an individual character... say 12 episodes per season. I think the majority of fans just want to see the characters done well on the screen in some form or another, so why not give them something a little different than the blockbuster films we've seen so far? In my opinion, the ultimate goal of Marvel Studios shouldn't strictly be feature-film products (and we're already seeing that with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up by ABC). This would give them the opportunity to branch out and expand into entirely new audiences with more mature content.

I also think that by basically making each character a mini-series there are some interesting storytelling options. For instance, instead of the token origin story film we've seen for other Marvel characters recently, you can show pieces of that throughout the episodes via brief flashbacks. That way you understand each character's motivations without spending lots of time setting up the origin & instead jump straight to a story arc for the season.

Then as each season comes to a close, you find a way to set up the next featured character. So say Season 1 is based around Punisher - at the end of the finale you have Frank Castle arrested for his vigilante justice, but in the final moments you see him outside a courtroom having been acquitted. He mutters something like, "Thanks Murdock" and walks away, while the final visual of the season sets up a Daredevil arc for Season 2. Similarly, you could introduce a character like Elektra to set up Season 3.

Now, in regards to Ghost Rider - while I understand the problems of bringing the character to life on TV, I don't think it's impossible. Most of the issues would stem around production costs/effects budgeting... with that being said, we've seen the success of Game of Thrones which comes with high production costs & visual effects budgets. So I think that if Ghost Rider were to happen on TV, you could build to it through a show like Marvel Knights. If the series were to garner success in earlier seasons, it might sway the studios to ramp up the budget if it meant introducing characters that could then be parlayed into feature-film appearances (but not necessarily stand-alone pictures, but something like The Avengers).

I'd be interested to hear comments/thoughts about such a scenario - I know it's a long-winded post, so props if you made it this far!

Almost perfect.

I had kind of a similar post (I think in the Daredevil thread) proposing a 3rd annual MCU movie which is lower budget and simply named 'Marvel Knights', and a sequel every year. But a cable show works even better.

One tweak is that I wouldn't center an entire season around a single character. I would instead follow the template laid down by Game of Thrones with multiple intersecting and divergent story arcs.

Does Disney own a cable channel? I remember reading somewhere that Disney had a stake in A&E. However, if I recall correctly from about a year back, when I lived in NY, A&E primarily focused on reality television. So I'm not too sure if a 'Marvel Knights' show would fit.

One tweak is that I wouldn't center an entire season around a single character. I would instead follow the template laid down by Game of Thrones with multiple intersecting and divergent story arcs.

I understand where you're coming from and I wouldn't mind that type of show either if it came down to it. Here's my thinking on it though - having each season revolve around a single character might interest actors who would rather not be tied long-term into contracts with Marvel. If an actor knows that they're only contractually obligated for 12 episodes, with the possibility of a feature film that could tie the show's characters together, it might be a more enticing deal. Another benefit of that model would be from the writing perspective - I think it would be much easier to write a story arc that centers around one main character as opposed to juggling multiple 'leads' for the show.

When it comes down to it though, I just think that many of these characters deserve their own showcase without competing for screentime. We know that Marvel can't give every character in their arsenal a feature film for various reasons (whether that's scheduling issues, perceived lack of consumer interest, or saturation of the market). On a channel like HBO, a 12-episode season equates to nearly 12 hours of screen time - that's nearly twice the combined runtimes for the three Iron Man movies. That means a one season story arc is plenty of time to tell a good story & allows the show to stay fresh with a revolving cast.

Again, that's just my opinion - I think it'd be more interesting story-telling and allows some of these other characters the deserving chance to stand on their own.

I dont know why but I think GR and Blade will be sort of pushed to the front of the production slate by Marvel and we will see them sooner than Daredevil or Punisher.

They are quite well known to the mainstream, and with Marvel introducing new things into its movie universe with all things cosmic and magic being opened up by GOTG and Dr. Strange respectively, I think Marvel's next avenue will be horror, and to the main stream those are the two most well known.

I think we'll see Blade and DD before we see GR or Punisher. It's been a longer period of time since the last Blade or Daredevil films came out so I see Marvel being more likely to reboot those 2 first.

I do really want a Marvel Knights imprint though. Disney could put the Touchstone logo before the movies. I dont really see any of the guys like DD, Blade, Punisher, etc. getting any shine anytime soon even all the way in Phase IV

After the disappointment of the first two in the box office, 10 years sounds possible. I'd like to see Ghost Rider done as an R rated movie that isn't hobbled. Unfortunately I'm not sure they'll get the chance.

Blade on the other hand is more likely to get the reboot treatment at this stage. It was a successful franchise that holds up well enough.

I just don't see Dare Devil or Punisher being rebooted any time soon. Neither had the success to justify sequels (Punisher's was more reboot than sequel). And poor Elektra, that'll never happen again.

After the disappointment of the first two in the box office, 10 years sounds possible. I'd like to see Ghost Rider done as an R rated movie that isn't hobbled. Unfortunately I'm not sure they'll get the chance.

Blade on the other hand is more likely to get the reboot treatment at this stage. It was a successful franchise that holds up well enough.

I just don't see Dare Devil or Punisher being rebooted any time soon. Neither had the success to justify sequels (Punisher's was more reboot than sequel). And poor Elektra, that'll never happen again.

Blade is so wesley snipes though. I mean to most people they identify blade more as a wesley snipes franchise than a comic book one.

I think a non-snipes blade film will be taken to as well as a terminator salvation. You'll notice they're bringing arnold back for the next terminator film.

10 years is a long time. But at least Marvel Studios is releasing 1 film per year.

Yeah especially the ones that already have a movie before - Daredevil, Blade, Elektra, Punisher and Ghost Rider.

The movie needn't even cost a lot because the only character who requires CG is Ghost Rider.

5 second plotline, off the top of my head;
Vampires are coming out of the shadows more ruthless and organised than ever before and are proving too much for Blade. Punisher and Daredevil get involved as the vampire war spills into organised crime. When it is revealed the vampires are being controlled by an inter dimensional demonic overlord they (Marvel Knights) recruit the Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider defeats the demon and the vampires return to being 'regular' vampires.